Archangel of Twilight:X & The Single Gargoyle Pt V
by Denigoddess2001
Summary: WARNING: THIS PARTICULAR SEGMENT DEALS WITH THEMES NO MEANT FOR SENSITIVE READERS. Logan's unnatural obsession culminates into a violent, traumatic climax. Goliath & Adrienne must deal with news that will forever have ramifications on their lives. Gra
1. Justification By Faith

4/17/2001  
Denigoddess2001@aol.com  
  
Rated R for mature themes, violence, and strong language.  
  
Previously, on "X And The Single Gargoyle...."  
  
The Prequel -Even Angels Shall Weep  
Part I -Only Flesh And Stone  
Part II -Nobody Wants To Be Lonely  
Part III -On The Wings Of Love  
Part IV -Heart Of Glass, Heart of Stone  
  
X-Man Adrienne Westfall, code named "TWILIGHT", is an Alpha-class Mutant gifted with the talents of Darkforce Manipulation and Generation, Shapeshifting, Empathy, Dreamworking, and Absorption.  
  
She patrolled NYC one night and noted an aerial dogfight over the famous Aerie Building (Xanatos Enterprises). Realizing that it was her old foes, The Friends Of Humanity, she swiftly came to aid the strange winged creatures who were the targets of the shooting spree. Fatally wounded in the back by a plasma particle beam, Goliath took Adrienne to the Castle for emergency medical attention. When revealed by Dr. McCoy that Adrienne neared death, Goliath took her with him into Stone Slumber. The amazing feat became possible because of Adrienne's abilities of Empathic bonding, DNA absorption, and shapeshifting.  
  
Their tentative relationship took on added dimensions with the passing of time. Eventually, Goliath and Adrienne admitted their feelings to one another in a lovely penthouse garden much to the chagrin of Logan and Brooklyn.  
  
Adrienne slowly learned more about her Kiari heritage from Owen Burnett. Because of Logan's predatory obsession, she left the Xavier Insitute for Castle Wyvern. Goliath and she became mates and are betrothed to be married.  
  
Owen's information revealed that there was a chance that the destroyed clan of Castle Wyvern might be resurrected.  
  
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN GARGOYLES. THEY BELONG TO BUENA VISTA/ DISNEY. I DON'T OWN THE X-MEN. THEY BELONG TO MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT GROUP. I DON'T OWN THE SONG "ANGELS" BY ROBBIE WILLIAMS. HE WROTE THAT. ARMAND DEVOE AND ADRIENNE WESTFALL (TWILIGHT) ARE CHARACTERS OF MY CREATION. MINE, MINE, MINE!!!!!! I AM WRITING THIS FANFIC BECAUSE OF THE LOVE I FOR MENTIONED SONG AND FANDOMS. PLEASE, DO NOT SUE!  
  
[WORDS IN BRACKETS INDICATE THOUGHT OR TELEPATHIC TRANSMISSIONS]  
  
  
ARCHANGEL OF TWILIGHT  
(X AND THE SINGLE GARGOYLE PT. V)  
  
By  
Denigoddess2001  
  
Adrienne wearily piled over the last of her article. Working as a freelance writer for the Salem Center Sentinel was an easy way to earn some much needed extra cash. She promised her editor a full expose' on the inner workings of the Anti-Mutant organization, The Friends Of Humanity, founded by Graydon Creed. She knew the story's deadline was just an e-mail away before she and her clan were due to leave for Scotland.  
  
Originally, when the plans were first formalized, the clan and she decided to leave three days after the discovery of the Tome of Tacitus. Upon further study, Adrienne realized that she needed and required more time to carfully examine the spell book's contents. The language was antiquated and did equate well with Adrienne's original interpretations. According to the Professor's description, Armand DeVoe was 'enigmatic.' Adrienne's natural wariness of strangers roared to life. Was it truly wise to expose the clan to an unknown individual?  
  
The Professor vouched vehemently for DeVoe's character. Adrienne silently prayed to the Powers-That-Be that she wasn't placing the clan at risk by taking them halfway across the world. She had promised Owen and Goliath to always safeguard the clan as her own flesh and blood.  
  
"My love, are you here?" Called a resounding baritone that made Adrienne tremble at the sheer pleasure of hearing it.  
  
"Yes, Goliath." She responded cheerfully. "I'm in the bedchamber."  
  
Her towing, majestic mate walked into their shared chambers.  
  
[God, he is breathtaking handsome! Those wings folded about him look like a woolen cloak. No man or Gargoyle shou have that much presence and charisma. It's sinful! Lucky him.}  
  
"How is your project, My Raven?" He asked peering over her shoulder and planting a series of butterfly kisses and the delicate skin of her neck.  
  
"I'm ...oooooh..." She mewled. "Almost done, Handsome."  
  
She never had found a dignified endearment situable for the regal Gargoyle standing next to her. Handsome had to do. "I'm double-cheking it for punctuation and spelling at the moment. I need to get away from it. I'm getting too tired."  
  
"YOu should rest, Adrienne." He spoke softly in her ear. "You push yourself beyond your limits."  
  
"I don't work hard enough." She countered. "I still have a car payment, grocery bill, and recent medical expenses."  
  
"Medical expenses?" Goliath's obsidian gaze widened in surprise. "Are you ill?"  
  
"I'll be honest, I haven't been at my best." She hated admitting her illness to her mate. She didn't want Goliath worrying about her. He had enough burdens upon his shoulders as Clan leader.  
  
"What ails you, Sweetling?" He asked as he knealed beside her. "I beg you, tell me."  
  
"Well," Adrienne hastily improvised while crossing her fingers behind her back. "I think I have avery nasty case of the flu."  
  
[A case I might get over in about ten months.] She thought.  
  
"When do you see your healer?"  
  
"Doctor?" His occasional elequent and archaic speech enchanted Adrienne. She thought it one of Goliath's most charming attributes. "I go tomorrow afternoon about three hours befor Sunset."  
  
"Perhaps, we need to postpon the trip-"  
  
"Don't say that." She exclaimed and pressed two fingers to his lips. "This is too wonderful of an opportunity to let pass. We have a spell book that allows us to resurrect your clan. I'm not going to let that chance fade away. Fourty-three Sires, Dames, and children died because of Viking hammer and Demona's betrayal. Let us try and and undo the crime she's committed."  
  
"Adrienne, it is not expected of you to do this at the risk of your health."  
  
"I am an X-Man and a member of this clan. As your mate and fiance', I am oath-bound to do all that I can to safeguard you and the clan as my own flesh and blood." She declared.  
  
"Then I honor you. Yet I've no want to see you ill, Sweetling." Goliath purred as he kissed her hand.  
  
"It will be worth it if we can do this." Adrienne brought her tingling hand to his chiseled features. "Don't you get it? I have NOTHING to offer you. I can't feed you very much. I'm broke most of the time. I can't give you children easily no matter what Owen might say. I'm hunted because I'm aMutant. I'm not a safe bet, Goliath. We know that. But, if I can give you back your family, your clan, then I know that I shall be worthy and deserving of your faith and love in me."  
  
He closed his onyx eyes when the weight of her words surrounded his heart. [So much like a gargoyle.] He thought. She wanted to prove her self a meritorious mate and provider. She felt unworthy because of their differences and her shortcomings. Tears of joy, exultation, and humility stung behind his eyelids.  
  
"Beloved, you humble me." Goliath murmered brokenly in a trembling voice. "You needn't justify my faith and devotion to you. You have already done so with your loyalty and regard for our clan."  
  
He leaned forward and brought his lips to hers. He reveled in the particular human custom of kissing his sweet Adrienne. With her empathic abilities, a simple kiss was a feast for his mind and body. It was euphoric for his senses. The tremors of pleasure shared between them left him with the sensation of giddiness and the physical state of bittersweet arousal.  
  
Her taste was of peaches, strawberries and fresh mellon from the vine as he slowly savored his mate. Her scent was a heady array of vanilla, lilacs, sunshine and something uniquely Adrienne. He heard her mewl quietly with excitement as they deepened their kiss. Her breathing became short and shallow. His tail twitched rapidly as they bothe longed for something less clothed and more intimate.  
  
His wings wapped around her. She loved the feel of his double embrace. She lived to taking in those strong arms and cherished within the folds of his powerful wings. [His wings are not unlike Archangel.]  
  
[Archangel...Warren isn't using the name anymore. It better suits Goliath.] The hazy thought danced in the back of her mind. [My Archangel of Twilight.]  
  
"My Archangel of Twilight." She murmered as she pulled away from him to catch her stolen breath.  
  
"What?" Goliath mumbled incoherently with a rather mawkish grin adorning his bemused features. Adrienne smirked with pure feminine empowerment when she saw the gentle rise of his erection appear beneath the folds of his woolen loincloith.  
  
"You are my Archangel. My kninght in shining amour, not armor. With wings of an incubus and the heart of a saint, and the body of an Adonis, you are most certainly my Archangel of Twilight."  
  
"I am honored by your words." He said softly entwining his talons lovingly within her charcoal tresses. "No one has even addressed me with such tender endearment."  
  
"Goliath, with you I am usually at a loss for words. You, however, always have a gift for poetic elequence. I've envied you for it." She grudgingly admitted to him.   
  
"My Love, do not be so quick to dismiss your own gifts." Goliath stared intently at her. With his talon hand, he gently clasped her shoulder. "You truly astound me with them."  
  
"I don't know what to say. All I'm saying is that I wanted an endearment to address you with that was dignified enough for you. 'Handsome' seems trite, coy, and uncouth." Adrienne kissed Goliath again. 'I save that special name for you and you alone. No one will ever call you Archangel."  
  
"Never have I been called ..an angel." He replied quietly. His sudden changed of bearing struck Adrienne as odd. He seemed lost inside himself when he looked away from her.  
  
[So long ago, I once knew an angel. She was my Angel Of The Night. Now, millennia later, I have a mate who adores me as no other. Adrienne is sanguine and naive as I was once. I beseech the Dragon that heartach never befriends her.]  
  
"Goliath, did I say somehthing wrong?"  
  
"Nay, Beloved." He gently reassured her. He rubbed his brow against hers in a uniquely Gargoyle display of affection. "You are delightful."  
  
"Oh...come ON, guys." A voice cut sharply through their romantic dialogue. "If you two fawn over each other anynire, I'm gonna puke."  
  
Goliath growled at the crimson gargoyle standing a few feet away. "Our words weren't meant for your ears."  
  
"C'mon, guys. You sound like a bad romance novel. It was so melodramatic that I wanted to grab a seat and buy some popcorn."  
  
"Who asked you, Brooklyn?" Adrienne demanded. "We might get a bit sappy, but, we didn't ask you to observe."  
  
"Look, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, honest." He held his hands defensively in the air. "I'm just supposed to tell you that the helicopter will be here at 8:30PM tommorrow night. We'll rendevous with Professor Xavier at the Salem Center Airport and then we're taking one of Xanatos' jets from there."  
  
"Great." Adrienne replied. 'But why are we meeting Professor X?"  
  
"Something about passports, debriefings, and image-inducers." Brooklyn shrugged. "he said you'd know more about those things."  
  
"I think I understand what he has in mind." Adrienne's mind spun into overdrive trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle. Just then, she felt her stomach violent lurch. A bitter, metallic warmth burned at the back of her cheeks.  
  
"I'll be right back." She covered her mouth and rushed to the restroom.  
  
"Is she okay?" Brookly's look of worry creased his brow. "She looks pale."  
  
"She is combatting the flu." Goliath explained.  
  
"Is it contagious?"  
  
"Not to us."  
  
"y'know, she works to hard." Brooklyn commented. "Always in front of her laptop. She looks thinner."  
  
"I, too, have noticed." The lavender Gargoyle agreed. "She disregards my entreaty that she rest. Yet she is beset with figuring out the spells within the Tome of Tacitus or working on her articles. I never have seen her this sedulous in her pursuit of any endeavor. It utterly cnsumes her."  
  
"You're really worried about her aren't you?" Brooklyn asked his clan leader. Goliath nodded. "I can tell when you start talking like a walking dictionary."  
  
Brookly chuckled. He saw Goliath's stern gaze fall upon him. "I'm not making fun of you. I know you love and I know you fret over her. I'm just trying to lighten your load, Fearless Leader. It's been pretty heavy these past few days."  
  
"Indeed."  
  
"Archangel of Twilight?" Brooklyn tried out the phrase. He let his scrutiny travel over Goliath. "Ya know, that's actually pretty good. It does suit you. It's sounds heroic. I like it!"  
  
"Hmmm." Goliath amiguously riposted. "I am glad that it meats your approval."  
  
"All you need now is a harp and a halo."  
  
"Humph!"  
  
  
  



	2. Storks And Cabbage Leaves

Archangel Of Twilight: X & The Single Gargoyle Part V  
  
Chapter Two  
  
Storks and Cabbage Leaves  
  
Adrienne waited anxiously in the Doctor's examination room. After her physical, she tried to content herself with year-old women's magazines with little success. A needle-happy nurse with an itchy trigger finger turned Adrienne into a walking pin cushion. Adrienne's bladder felt drier than the Sahara after submitting three urine samples.  
  
The young Puerto-Rican physician was unlike most others. Her hidden agenda included Mutant medical for members of the outlaw group known as the X-Men.  
  
"Ms. Westfall?" Nurse Hansen called her name.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Dr. Reyez will be in momentarily with your results."  
  
"Thank-you." [Do my palms always get this sweaty when I'm nervous??]  
  
One minute slowly passed on the clock. The silence of the examination room threatened to drive Adrienne mad. How she wished Goliath was there with her. She needed his strength and courage at that moment. She abhorred waiting.  
  
"Ms. Westfall?" A rich, deep feminine voice interrupted her pensive thoughts.  
  
"Yes, Doctor Reyez?"  
  
"We have the results from all the test." She sat down and opened the medical chart. She gave Adrienne a warm smile. "No cancer, no bacterial or viral infections. You're healthy as a horse. On impulse, I ran one more test and the results should be here momentarily."  
  
"Okay, that's great." Adrienne breathed an audible sigh of relief. "But, then what's wrong with me? I've dropped ten pounds and I'm not keeping anything down."  
  
A knock came at the door and in stepped Nurse Hansen. She handed the results to Dr. Reyez and left without a word. Dr. Reyez carefully studied the results.  
  
"Hmmm." She hummed.  
  
"What, Doctor?" Adrienne pressed. "What do the results say?"  
  
"Congratulations, Ms. Westfall." The Doctor patted her on the shoulder.  
  
"What? Nothing's wrong with me?" She felt a heavy weight lifted from her with those three little words.  
  
"Better than that. You're going to be a mother. You're six weeks along."  
  
"I'm WHAT!?"  
  
  



	3. Contemplations

Archangel Of Twilight  
X & The Single Gargoyle  
  
Chapter III  
Contemplations  
  
Adrienne sate in Xanatos' library. She locked herself away from the rest of the world. She needed time away from the others. There was much that needed contemplation. so much had happened in such little time. Now, she was on the precipice of a new era in her life.  
  
There was too much to consider. She was pregnant. How was she going to financially deal with that? She couldn't be active with the X-Men for much longer. Her condition would soon precluder her from that.   
  
[I don't have medical insurance.]  
  
Panic coursed through her. She never felt so completely and utterly alone.  
  
[What will Goliath say? Neither one of us was expecting1!]  
  
There were no other alternatives for her. She knew all too well the stigma attached to an unconventional arrival into the world. She didn't want that for her unborn child. Adrienne decided immediately that the little person growing inside her would have the love of two parents. It didn't matter that one of them had wings and a tail.  
  
She browsed through the bridal magazines on the table. How she longed for the white lace, the veil, flowers and the bridesmaids. It would never happen. She longed for a traditional wedding with all the trimmings.  
  
[Not in this lifetime.]  
  
[He's eight feet tall, lavender, has wings and a tail. He's stone during the day and hung like a Russian race horse. He isn't even human. He's never earned a paychek or paid a bill. He can't vote. Talk about him and his clan being a disenfranchised minority. I'm utterly screwed.] Adrienne scoffed.  
  
Yet, she coul not deny the indefinable tie she shared with Goliath. Yes, he was alien and exotic and other than human. Yes, he was dramatically different in body and mind from her. Yet it was those differences she cherished and treasured so much. They shared many of the same beliefs and values. His mind lacked the chaoitc randomness of human thoughts. His emotions were purer and stronger. What he saw and felt became the same for her. Love of clan and loyalty to loved ones were integral to his psyche. His desire to protect underlied it all. Mind and emotion had never been so elementary to understand. His integrity and character were beyond reproach.  
  
Yet, Goliath entertained the ability to close his mind to their empathic bond. She wondered if all Gargoyles were immune to her Empathic communications. She had yet to test her abilitites on other Gargoyles. Goliath was astoundingly complex. Things with him were stunningly clear and resolute. He was comtemplative, melancholy, and reticent at times. He had the heart the spirit of a warrior, the heart of a poet, and the mind of a sage. He protected Manhattan. It was so simple for him. Yet, would he welcom another child into this world? He had Angela and Darius? Would he be so willing to accept another?  
  
She looked down at her hand. Four fingers and a thumb were in front of her. She knew that Goliath had three talons and a thumb. At least having children was now a known possibility. She remembered how David Xanatos gleefully had informed her that Owen surmised that she and Goliath would be "quite fertile in any way, shape, or form."  
  
He couldn't have been more right.  
  
Adrienne Jayede Westfall carried a unique child in her womb. Of Gargoyle, Human, and Kiari heritage, he or she would certainly be an enigma. Her monthly menses had been late and she thought nothing of it. it was of little notice until she became ill over the past month. She dared to take a pregnacy test and it camb back absolutely, blatantly POSITIVE  
  
Dr. Reyez had done the rest. "Congratulations, Ms. Westfall. You're going to be a mother."  
  
Those words haunted Adrienne for two days. She knew neither sleep nor appetite. She wasn't ready for this unexpected predicament. She didn't think it would actually happen to her with Goliath. It was ll too much too soon. She had no one to talk to about this, no one had been through this before. She never felt more alone or afraid.  
  
[How do I tell him?] She knew about his son Darius from his first marriage.  
  
Sje wamted tp retirm tp tje Xavier Institute and talk about it with Jean. SHe alway gave Adrienne wise counsel. Yet, Adrienne knew that her reaction would also be one of disappointment. She didn't want to betray Jean's faith hin her by letting her know that she was pregnant.  
  
"Adrienne?" A feminine voice called from the entrance of the Library. "Are you here?"  
  
It was Angela. Damn it. Adrienne didn't want anyone to see her this way. Adrienne held her breath in tense silence. She prayed that Angela would simply go elsewhere.  
  
"Adrienne? Are you in here?" Come the question more earnest this time. Adrienne heard the soft footsteps of Angel heading in her direction. How she wanted to teleport out of the Library to somewhere else in the castle.  
  
"Adrienne, here you are." Angela said brightly. "We've been looking all over for you tongiht." Her cheery greeting vanished when she saw the red eyes and the tear-stained cheeks.. "What's wrong?"  
  
She saw those large brown eyes look soulfully at her. Angela knelt beside the young woman and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.  
  
[Sometimes, she truly is her father's daughter. Goliath would behave in the very same fashion.] Adrienne thought fondly of the affectionate gesture.  
  
"Not much, really. I just needed to get away from everything for a while." She lied. "Empathic overload."  
  
"I've never seen you cry, Adrienne." Angela said. "Did someone hurt you? Please, tell me what's wrong. Is there anything I can do?"  
  
  
[Damn it to Hell! She's as perceptive as her father. I'm surprised that she can't smell that I'm expecting.]  
  
"To be honest, I have much on my mind and I need time alone to sort through some issues." She truthfully answered. "I just need to be by myself with my thoughts."  
  
"If there's anything I can do.." Angela offered.  
  
"I appreciate the thought. Thank you." Adrienne replied. "But, this is something that only I can deal with."  
  
Angela looked hurt at that statement. Her mindset was Gargoyle, not human. It was natural for he to think that others in pain or need would turn to the others in the clan. She watched those wings fold defensively around the young Gargoyle. [The same way that a human would cross his or her arms to ward away an invader. Perhaps we're not so different.]  
  
"I'm glad that I have someone to turn to if I need to." She added urgently. "It's just my way of dealing with things."  
  
"Adrienne, we all care about you. You are a part of our clan; be you human or otherwise. We will always be here if you need us." Angela sat down beside the young woman.  
  
It was too much for Adrienne to bear in addition to the other worries.   
  
"I know." She sobbed and buried her face in her hands.  
  
"She felt wings encircle her. she envied the Gargoyles in that respect. They had a wonderful ability of the double embrace. Once with arms and then with wings. She took solac in Angela's comforting gesture.  
  
A few minutes passed as she regained her composure. She took several slow, deep breaths and wiped her face free of tears. She stood up and straightened her clothing. "I feel much better, Angela. Thank you."  
  
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" She asked quietly.  
  
"Positive." Adrienne replied.   
  
"I'm glad you know that we're there for you always if you ever need us." Angela smiled at her. "You've brought happiness back to my father's life, Adrienne. I think you may have saved his soul."  
  
"That's a fairly tall order. I know that he's brought me great joy." Adrienned admitted happily. "He's everything I've longed for in a ma-, a gar-, a soulmate and could never seem to find."  
  
"My father is an amazing individual." Angela chose her words carefully.  
  
"They chatted for a few more moments. Adrienne realized that the Powers-That-Be must have been looking after her that night because Angela's appearance was at the perfect time. Adrienne still felt trepidation regarding her unplanned pregnacy and the rapid rate of change occurring around her. However she didn't feel isolated anymore.   
  
She knew she had to find the courage to tell Goliath. She just didn't know when or how.  



	4. Revelations

4/18/2001  
Denigoddess2001@aol.com  
  
[Bracketed words indicate thought or telepathic transmission]  
  
"X And The Single Gargoyle"  
Chapter IV  
Revelations  
  
  
  
Goliath searched everywhere in the castle for his beloved Raven. In the early evenings, she often found great joy playing the piano in the Music room. He found her not to be there. He had checked their bedchambers without success. He, with great reservation, finally reached along the link they shared to see if he could touch her mind. He rarely opened the psionic bond between them because he know that she valued her privacy. Goliath longed to sense that rare affinity between them always.  
  
[Even in my dreams, you are with me.] He thought happily as he searched for the young woman with large brown eyes and a mop of bouncy charcoal curls.  
  
The floodgates of the bond burst forth inside his mind. A rush of sadness and trepidation flooded his thoughts. Dread filled him. Doubt consumed him. Things were not well [Sweetling, where are you? I sense but do not see you! What is wrong?]  
  
No answer came inside his mind as he remained along with the anguish that filled his thoughts. Once, Adrienne commented that Gargoyle thoughts and emotions were ordered and simple while human minds were chaotic and unfocused. He thought how her own mind was a wild flury of heartwrenching emotions at this moment.  
  
Goliath remembered Adrienne revealed that her empatic sense strengthened when in close proximity of the sender. She often used her Empathy as a form of psionic sonar in her adventures. Now, Goliath hoped that it would function in a similar fashion for him. As he walked the stone corridors, he felt it intesnsify when he neared the library.  
  
Angela came from the Library and smiled at him.  
  
"Angela, is Adrienne in the Library?" He asked hopefully.  
  
"Yes, Father." Angela folded her wings about her. "I'm not sure that this would be the best time to see her."  
  
"Is she hurt?" He demanded. He headed for the entrance. Angela grabbed his arm with his agile tail.  
  
"No, Father. Listen to me, please." She beseeched her stubborn Sire. "She wouldn't tell me but I think I know. However, she very tense and frightened. I think that she's afraid to tell you whatever it is."  
  
"She need never fear me." Goliath declared. "No harm will befall her."  
  
"I know that and you know that, but, Adrienne has yet to learn that." Angela explained. "She is accustomed to..the ways of Humanity. The ways of our kind are foreign to her. Father, be there for her and be gentle."  
  
"What do you think it may be, Daughter?"  
  
"I smelled a sweet fragrance around her akin to vanilla."  
  
"I have little time for riddles, Angela." Her father told her. "Please tell me."  
  
"It's not my place to do so. If we want her to understand our ways, then, we must honor hers. I suspect that she would rather tell you in her own time and in her own way. Just go to her and be there for her."  
  
Goliath nodded curtly in understanding as his daughter left him alone in front of the Library. He entered and walked by the large, long rows of books and dusty volumes. Finally, he saw his ladylove sitting alone at one of the tables. He slowly folded his wings and headed toward her. He walked quietly when he saw that her hands were steepled and she seemed in great meditation.  
  
[It was so unlike Adrienne to be lost deeply in thought.]  
  
He noticed her eyes were bright and her cheeks flushed. He watched her wipe a solitary teardrop from streaking down her cheek. He no longer restrained himself. He rushed to her side and knelt to stare into luminous eyes of coffee.  
  
"Sweetling, why are you crying?" As a large talon wiped away another stray tear. "What is wrong?"  
  
She turned to see her gentle giant's face only inches from hers. His face was furrowed with concern. His large onyx eyes compelled her to tell him everything. Goliath drew Adrienne tightly to him and placed kisses on her brow.  
  
"Speak to me of what saddens you." He said softly. "Has someone hurt you? Are you ill?"  
  
He inhaled deeply of her scent. How he loved Adrienne's unique fragrance of peaches, lilacs, and a particular scent known only to her. Yet, there was a hint of vanilla; very sweet and quite aromatic. There was a flavor in the scent that Goliath's fine olfactory senses couldn't define. Light and airy, yet solid and strong, it hung in the air and hovered about Adrienne like a protective cloud.  
  
Elisa had smelled of sweet honeysuckle and vanilla once when she had been ill. It hadn't been an illness that caused that marvelous fragrance to surround her. She had been expecting Darius.  
  
[She had been expecting Darius!]  
  
The vanilla scent, Goliath remembered, usually accompanied the illness associated with pregnancy. He breathed in that mysterious scent that refused to be identified. It was strange and alien to him; far from any Gargoyle or Human scent. Whatever it was mattered little. Adrienne Westfall emanated Motherhood.  
  
[She is with child.] The thought quietly exploded inside Goliath's mind.   
  
"It's just that time of the month." Adrienne told him innocently. "PMS...and Empathy make for one pissy Mutant."  
  
[She lied to me!?] Hurt and disappointed erupted inside him. Then, he remembered his daughters words ".....If we want her to understand our ways, then, we must honor hers. I suspect that she would rather tell you in her own time and in her own way. Just go to her and be there for her."  
  
[Why would she lie to me about something like this?]  
  
"Sweetling," Goliath tenderly bid her. "I respect your desire for retreat. Rarely do I intrude upon our sacred bond."  
  
"I appreciate that or at least I did." Adrienne sighed heavily. "I just find that I don't like being alone very much."  
  
"And if this bond were always awake between us?" He probed gently.  
  
"Very, very stimulating." She whispered.   
  
"Adrienne, what is troubling you?" Goliath pressed. He didn't like the prospect of his mate lying to him. One mate did that countless times and the price for it had been high.  
  
Adrienne stared at her winged lover with wings cloaked, tail twitching and dark eyes focused upon her. She saw his fangs when he spoke and she remembered how they gently bit her neck when they made love. [Humans don't have fangs.]  
  
[If this baby is born, will it be normal?]  
  
[It's one thing to mate with a Gargoyle, it's another thing entirely to start a family with him....] a small voice whispered in the back of her mind. [Admit it, you don't want this child with him because you're afraid that it's gonna be a freak!]  
  
[You're bigoted} the tiny voice challenged her!  
  
The revelation truly dumbfounded Adrienne. She denied the charge vehemently. [I'm not bigoted!]  
  
Almost against her own will, Adrienne abruptly stood up. "Goliath, let me go. I want to go home. I want to return to the Xavier Institute. I need to go now."  
  
"Adrienne, I don't understand." Goliath exclaimed. He tried to be receptive to her sendings but something blocked it. It was a presence that lingered between them that felt ominous; it reeked of bigotry. He opened his heart and mind to his Beloved. He felt that particular psionic signature that was hers.  
  
Then he realized what was wrong. That presence, that obstacle between them didn't originate from his or Adrienne's mind. It came from another source.  
  
"Adrienne, I'm not going to let you go anywhere." Goliath said firmly. "Please don't teleport away. Talk with me what troubles you. I shall never leave you and will share your troubles if only you let me."  
  
[He can't provide for you and the child!] An inner voice screamed. [He can only be half a father. The rest of the time where is he during the day?]  
  
[He's stone.] She replied to her hideous thoughts. [How can I even think of Goliath like that?]  
  
"Let us share that rapport and affinity now." He whispered. "Let us be one heart and mind. Tell me what plagues you, Sweetling."  
  
Goliath's gentle reassurance spilled over her thoughts. It beckoned her to rush into his arms and let his protective strength keep away the fears and the doubts that haunted her.  
  
"I don't know if I can tell you." She said in a small voice. "It might change everything between us."  
  
"Have faith in me and in our love. I think I know." Goliath gently lifted her chin to meet his obsidian gaze. "Are you with child?"  
  
She looked into those eyes, those dark and compelling eyes. She saw no condemnation or fear. She heard no anger or recrimination in his words. She felt warmth, concern, and eager hopefulness tugging at the corners of her mind.  
  
"Damn it, Goliath. You're good." She replied. "That didn't take you long to put all the clues together."  
  
Silence filled the Library. No words or response did her mate utter. His wings remained folded. His tail was still. He simply looked at her.   
  
[Oh, no! That's NOT a good sign.]  
  
She reached out her hand to him. She looked at him. [Please, Goliath! Don't be angry.]  
  
[Told ya! Now, he's probably gonna ask if it's his.] The snide thought only added kindling to the burning fear growing inside her.  
  
"Goliath, say something." She begged. "Anything....."  
  
Goliath's solemn expression slowly widened into a huge grin. His wings unfurled the entire expanse. He threw his head back and let forth a mighty roar that rattled the windows and the books. She watched his eyes burn with that snowy white glow.  
  
[Oh, shit. He's pissed.] She shrank away from him.  
  
[RUN] The inner voice urged. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Adrienne shoved her way past Goliath and sprinted from the Library.  
  
"Adrienne, wait!" He exclaimed. "Where are you going?"  
  
With her mutant talents, she had the gift of superior physical ability. While she wasn't Quicksilver, Nightcrawler, or Beast, Adrienne sprinted with the speed and grace of a well-trained athlete throughout the halls of Wyvern.   
  
She easily outran Goliath. They had never compared their physical abilities to one another; Mutant verses Gargoyle. Goliath felt encumbered by two legs through those corridors so he resorted to running on all fours.  
  
Instinct guided her to the roof. She dashed through the gardens and found a nook between the the wall and some bushes in which to hide.  
  
Goliath didn't understand why she fled from him. He only knew that her fear and panic threatened to overwhelm her. Professor Xavier had explained that one of Adrienne's particular weaknesses was that strong emotions overwhelmed her. If she didn't keep a tight reign on her empathic bonds to others, their emotions became her own.  
  
He stopped. He stood up. He knew where she crouched cowering in fear. Someone else besides him lingered in her thoughts. Someone else had influenced her emotions to cause her panic. He held out his arms to where he knew she hid. He folded his large wings. His eyes dimmed.   
  
"We're going to have a child, Adrienne." He felt joy threaten to brim over into tears. "I can't believe the good news."  
  
He didn't sound enraged. He didn't look like one of the winged furies of myth. He stood there with arms wide open and extended to her. "Sweetling?"  
  
She slowly stood up. She shook her head to clear the irrational haze from her thoughts that clouded her mind. [Why did I run? What the HELL was I thinking?!]  
  
"Yes, we are." she replied. She stepped forward. "I didn't think you'd be... receptive to the news."  
  
He strode across the distance betwwen them. He lifted Adrien into his arms and twirled around with her and let loose another exultant roar.  
  
"Jalapena! A hatchling!" He cried joyfully. "How long have you been with child?"  
  
"Six weeks."  
  
"That means the first time we mated our love created life." He said solemnly.  
  
"That's about it." She agreed.  
  
"The Dragon has blessed us." He planted a firm kiss upon her lips as he put her feet back on the ground. "Tell me all."  
  
"I went to a doctor that is associated with the X-Men. She was one at one time and gives us medical attention on occasion. She ran a barrage of tests and confirmed my pregnancy. It's unlike anything she's seen. But, because of it's detailed development, she was able to run an ultrasound."  
  
"UL-tra-sound?" Goliath sounded out the word slowly. "What is an ul-tra-sound?"  
  
"It's using sound to take pictures. Dr. Reyez used soundwaves to photograph our Little One. Much like a bat uses sound to guide it's way through the night."  
  
"Or when you use your empathic abilities to find unseen opponents." He surmised.  
  
"Exactly." Adrienne exclaimed. "We know for sure it's a baby, NOT, a hatchling and certainly it is NOT an egg. It's much the same size and further along that a human embryo."  
  
"How long does a woman carry a child? Ten months?"  
  
"Ten lunar months. How long does a Gargoyle egg take before it hatches?" She asked out of curiosity.  
  
"Five years." He said nonchalantly and with great mirth.  
  
"WHAT!? Five years!" Adrienne exclaimed. "No, don't tell me that. I don't want to be pregnant for that long."  
  
"Elisa was with child for ten months." Goliath remembered the bittersweet times he had felt his wife's growing stomach. He remember had Darius kicked inside her womb. He remembered how they shared their hopes and dreams for their son's future...then.  
  
"Goliath?" Adrienne's voice cut into his contemplations. "Did you hear me, Handsome?"  
  
"I am still awed at the news." He had no wish to bring Adrienne pain with his musings.  
  
"We know it has feet like a human, but no wings or tail, and it has fingers, but we can't tell how many."  
  
"You mustn't wear yourself down any further, Sweetling." Goliath warned her. "To do so might bring harm to you and the hatchling-baby."  
  
"Goliath, there is a chance that this pregnancy may not go to term." Adrienne said gravely. "Because of the strange circumstances, the inter-species differences, my unique medical history; all those things could cause me to miscarry at any time."  
  
"We will deal with it together whatever happens." He promised. "You will not endure this alone."  
  
"I know. I'm sorry for doubting you. My instinct is to run. I'm just not that brave." Adrienne confessed.  
  
[I think someone else told you to run.] He thought suspiciously. "Yet, you are here. Our love and bond are stronger than fear."  
  
"Okay, so I'm a sucker for good-looking gargoyles." She smirked.  
  
"As am I for fleetfooted ladies with large brown eyes and buoyant ringlets."  
  
"Flirt." She shook her head at his blatant attempt at seduction.  
  
He purred appreciately. His tail wrapped around her waist and hugged her tightly. Masculine pride sweeled within him. A broad grin stretched from ear to ear. With wings, arms, and tail, he held his Beloved Raven close to him. He planted a series of kisses upon her skin that left her breathless.  
  
"Goliath." Adrienne felt solemnity over take her. "I'm still frightened."  
  
"I am with you always." His warmth brought comfort to her. "You are not alone. The entire clan will help with the hatchling, ur baby...little one. Little one will have his or her rookery brothers and sisters to help guide us and him."  
  
"I don't want to give up my right to motherhood." Adrienne exclaimed. "I know that much about Gargoyle culture, Goliath. I am human enough to know that if I am carrying this baby inside me, it needs parents. It doens't need extended family acting as surrogate parents."  
  
"I understand your concerns, Adrienne." Goliath tried to calm his agitated mate. "Can we not bring this child into the world with the love of both parents and clan?"  
  
"You'll be a father to him?" She asked hopefully.  
  
"I am to Angela and Darius." He replied.  
  
"Angela told me how hard she worked to develop a father/ daughter relationship with you. I've never seen Darius." She observed.  
  
"I give you my word that I shall be a good father to our Little one." Goliath replied solemnly. He looked at her and she felt his reaction to her words. Goliath's emotions of joy and celebration mingled with dismay and sorrow resulting from her blazen display of mistrust. "My Love, why do you doubt me I thought you accepted me as worthy once we consummated our love for one another."  
  
Adrienne remembered shortly after they consummated their vows how he had asked with great uncertainty, "Am I a worthy mate?"  
  
She had replied "Goliath, of course."  
  
Adrienne realized for the first time what gravity that question held for Goliath. It wasn't the human equivalent of 'was it good for you too?' In the Gargoyle mind, it meant exactly as if was expressed; an affirmation of love and acceptance. Adrienned grudgingly admitted to herself that sometimes the differences in their cultures and mindsets seemed conflicted and contrary.  
  
"This child will have a wonder clan to count on and a wonder father named Goliath." Adrienne murmered as she rubbed her brow against's Goliath's brow ridge.   
  
"This is cause to celebrate!" The Gargoyle declared. "The clan will rejoice in our good news."  
  
"Not so fast, Hotshot." Adrienne stayed him with her hand. "I would like to wait until we know more obout our baby before we tell anyone else. There's also something I need to ask of you."  
  
"Tell me." He asked earnestly.  
  
"Goliath, I'd like our child to have a name." Adrienne looked at him.  
  
"Of course! We'll name the child."  
  
"That's not exactly what I meant..." She hedged. "How do I put this?"  
  
"Please, have no fear of honesty between us, My Raven." Goliath gently urged her.  
  
"I'd like us to be married before Little One is born." She told him. "I'd like him to have a surname other than his mother's."  
  
"I don't have a surname to give him." Goliath shook his head. "I have no name to give you."  
  
[Again, culture clash. I'm on a winning streak tonight.] Adrienne berated herself. "It's not important. Forget I mentioned it."  
  
"Nay, it is important to you." Goliath responded. "As you have accepted my clan, I shall find a 'surname' to give you and our child. I promise."  
  
"Perhaps, we can speak to Xanatos or one of your friends." Goliath suggested. "I know that he knows several clergy."  
  
"Are you sure?" Adrienne asked. "I don't want you to do this because of obligation."  
  
"I do this because of love." Goliath told her. "I do nothing simply because of obligation."  
  
He made a mental note to speak to Xanatos on the morrow about a 'surname' for himself. This time, his Beloved would not slip away so easily.  
  
  
  
Meanwhile, back at the Mansion....  
  
Logan sat in the darkness of his room with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a half-lit cigar in the other. He hated being reduced to a lovesick boy longing for some Frail. Adrienne had him on his knees and she couldn't even see it. He closed his eyes in shame when he remembered how he used their link to find out more about her and Goliath. Logan learned that she was carrying Goliath's bastard child. Logan decided to used the compulsion of his link with Adrienne to bring her back home where she belonged. Yet, that link she had with that hobgoblin was stronger that Logan originally thought.  
  
She's mine!" He screamed into the darkness. He thought he brought her to her senses when he worded her unspoken thoughts in her mind.   
  
[Hell, givin' birth to that monster's bastard is gonna kill her.] Logan thought with alarm. [How's she gonna get past those wings and claws?]  
  
Logan took another shot of his favorite whiskey. This time, he realized he'd have to take a more direct approach at getting his Adrienne out of that monster's talons.  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Confrontations & Inclinations

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
4/18/01  
Denigoddess2001@aol.com  
  
INTERMISSION TIME! OKAY, THIS IS WHERE THE READER GETS UP, USES THE BATHROOM, AND GETS A SODA. READ THE INTERLUDE AND AND IT'LL CLUE YOU IN ON WHAT'S GOING ON NEXT!  
  
David heard a slow, steady rap at his Study door. "Come in."  
  
Goliath stepped in and stood before him. "This is a pleasant surprise. I didn't think that I would see you until we let."  
  
"I need to speak with you if you have a moment." Goliath replied.  
  
"Of course." David motioned for Goliath to have a seat. Goliath did so. "What can I do for you?"  
  
"I am hoping that you will know of how I need to do something." Goliath leaned forward and saw that no one else was in the room. "I must ask you a personal question."  
  
David was taken aback. Goliath and he had reconciled but they were hardly bosom buddies. More than once, Goliath had reluctantly sought his counsel on many things Human. "Feel free."  
  
"Thank you." Goliath cleared his throat. "Xanatos, that is you.... surname?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"How did you receive it?"  
  
"My last name?" David asked and Goliath nodded. "It was put on my birth certificate when I was born."  
  
"Was it not your' father's name as well?" Goliath asked.  
  
"Yes, it was."  
  
"Why not your mother's surname also Xanatos?"  
  
"Yes, after she married my father. Originally, her name was Evangelidis."  
  
"How did she receive the last name Xanatos? Through marriage?" Goliath inquired.  
  
David didn't understand where Goliath was headed with this particular line of questioning but decided to indulge him. "Yes, she took my father's name when she married him. It's tradition that the wife takes her husband's name upon marriage. It's changing though. Many women keep their maidon names after marriage. Some hyphynate both names and sometimes hubands do the same. I know one man the took his wife's name because he liked it better than his."  
  
"Arrgh! Humans and their blasted names." Goliath roared and slammed his fist down on the desk in pure frustration.  
  
"Goliath, what is going on and why are you asking me about names?" David probed. "You need to put your pride aside and just ask me."  
  
"I wish to marry Adrienne." Goliath simply stated.  
  
"That's wonderful!" David's face brightened with pleasant surprise. "When is the day?"  
  
"We are uncertain. However, she has made it known to me that she would like to take my ...surname. I do not have one. I have nothing to offer her."  
  
David understood. Goliath the mightly clan leader felt inadequate because he thought he couldn't provide his mate with what she wanted. "You know, Goliath, it's not impossible to get you a last name. It can be arranged."  
  
"Mustn't it come from one's Sire?"  
  
"Not anymore." David rose from his desk. "I'll have my lawyer's work on it for you. Do you have a name in mind?"  
  
"I can choose my own?" Goliath asked in amazement.  
  
"I don't see why not." David laughed. "Everything you have is because of Human existance. I think this once you ought to give something to yourself."  
  
"How do I know what name is right for me?"  
  
"That I can't tell you." David replied. "Adrienne is a member of the X-Men isn't she?"  
  
"Indeed. It is her passion." Goliath felt a twinge of jealousy.  
  
"Doesn't she have something like an alias?"  
  
"You mean a code name?" Goliath aked.  
  
"Right...what is it?"  
  
"Twilight." Goliath remembered that first night above the Aerie building when they first met.  
  
  
...."Wait." He called as she left to return to her patrol. "What is your name?"  
  
"You can call me Twilight." She saucily replied.  
  
"Twilight." He savored the unique name on his tongue. "That is an unusual name."  
  
"And yours?" She sent back the question.  
  
"I am called Goliath." He humbly replied.  
  
"Talk about unusual names." She quipped. "I think you have me beat...."  
  
"Ah, yes! That precious moment between night and morning." David nodded with great satisfaction. "She chose well. YOu know, perhaps, if you spoke with her mentor, Charles Xavier, he might be of some help."  
  
"I barely know the man." Goliath scoffed. "I prefer to keep this between us."  
  
"Understandable." He didn't want to deal with Goliath and his Gargoylian bruised pride.   
  
"How do I decide upon a name?" Goliath truly felt lost.  
  
"A name is often flavored by nationality and place of origin." David replied. "You're from New York, you live in Manhattan. Your surname could reflect your life here."  
  
"I was not hatched here. My nation was Scotland and I was hatched in the Wyvern rookery." Goliath mumbled. "Why must humans name everything?"  
  
"So, it should be Scottish." David hated when he had a churlish Gargoyle on his hands.  
  
" Aye. That it should." Goliath agreed. He rubbed his chin in contemplation. " A surname reflect nationality and place of origin."  
  
"That's right."  
  
"Then, my name shall be Wyvern." Goliath declared. "It is my home."  
  
"Goliath Wyvern." David it tried it out for size. "It fits. It suits you. Want to try for a middle name?"  
  
Goliath growled but his lips tugged into a smile. "Must it be so complicated?"  
  
"Surprise Adrienne. She'd think it was a precious gift."  
  
[Indeed, she would.] Goliath silently concurred. "Any suggestions?"  
  
"As a matter of fact, I have a few..."  
  
  
Moments later, Goliath left David's Study feeling much at ease. Xanatos promised Goliath that he would have a full and legal name within a short time. Goliath knew that this was a gift he wished to bestow upon his Beloved Adrienne. He almost burst with pride as he practiced his new line of introduction. "Hello, I am Goliath Wvyern."  
  
David felt great gratification in helping the Gargoyle find his place in this world. He only had to make two phone calls. The first one he made to his lawyers to start on the project of establishing Goliath's legal identity. The second call he made was to the Xavier Institute.  
  
"Hello, Xavier Institute For Higher Learning. This is Ororo. How may I direct your call?" Come the regal lilt of a young woman on the other side of the line. David noted her voice carried a distinct British flavor.  
  
"Good evening, Ororo." He replied confidently. "This was David Xanatos, I was wondering if I might be able to speak with Charles Xavier?"  
  
"Can you hold please?"  
  
There was a brief click followed by Musak.  
  
"Professor Xavier here...."  
  
  
  
  
OKAY, YOU'VE USED THE BATHROOM, GRABBED YOUR SODA AND STARTED MUNCHING ON YOUR POPCORN. NOW WE'RE READY FOR CHAPTER FIVE. READ ON AND ENJOY!!!  
  
  
  
  
X & The Single Gargoyle Part V  
Chapter 5 : Confrontations & Inclinations  
  
[Bracketed words indicate thoughts or telepathic transmission]  
  
By midnight all was ready. Adrienne noticed that she and David Xanatos had the most luggage out of nine of them. She chuckled at the truth that Gargoyles traveled lightly and humans did not. The boarded the two helicopters that would take them to their privated charted jet. She snuggled contentedly into Goliath's waiting arms.  
  
[I just wish you'd wipe that ludicrous grinn off your face.] She silently bid Goliath through their psionic rapport.   
  
[My Raven, you have brough me much joy and happiness this night. ] He planted a protective kiss on her brow. His voice rumbled that low, resonating baritone that made her warm and womanly in his arms. "Allow me to enjoy this."  
  
"Hey, Goliath! You're in a good mood! What's up?" Broadway asked him.  
  
"It will be good to return to our homeland.' Goliath replied calmly.   
  
"Aye, Lad." Hudson agreed. "I long to feel the mist from the Loch upon me. I cain't wait t' smell the mountain Heather and feel the crags beneath m' feet."  
  
Hudson's Scottish burr seemed thicker, deeper, and more pronounced that usual.  
  
Adrienne saw the peaceful serenity that settled upon her friend, Hudson. She knew at that moment that the pilgrimage to Scotland was what the clan needed. It was a homecoming for them. For her, it was an opportunity to see the Gargoyles them in their truest, best form.  
  
[I know that you are fond of returning to Scotland, but, that isn't the only reason for your cheesy grin. You like like a Persian rug.] Adrienne gave him a knowing look.  
  
[I didn't lie.} His mental response carried a hint of indignation. [I simply gave one of many reasons for my delight this night.]  
  
[Goliath, you have no shame!] Her cynical reply caused his cheeks to blush a deep plum.  
  
[Not with you, I don't.]   
  
"I can't wait until we arrive." Broadway voiced the clan's thoughts aloud. "I can remember the smell of the sea, the beauty of the mountains, and the haggis!"  
  
"I'll pass on the haggis." Lexington's face contorted into an expression of extreme distaste. "  
  
Adrienne agreed. It didn't please her to think that one of Scotland's finer delicacies somehow finding it's way into her sensitive stomach. She decided that if it had a name she couldn't pronounce it, she wouldn't consume it.  
  
"Lex, you don't know until you've tried it." broadway explained. "It's cool how they make it. First-"  
  
"Please, Broadyway." Adrienne begged and held up one hand. "Spare me Broadway. I have a weak stomach."  
  
"You don't know what you're missing."  
  
"I'd like to keep it that way." She quipped.  
  
"Suit yourself." He sadly shook his head.  
  
After an hour's flight to the airfield they made it to Xanatos' private airfield. Luggage was transferred and all prepared to board the jet. Adrienne let out a squeal of sheer delight when she saw Professor Xavier and Jean there at the airfield.  
  
She sprinted from goliath's side over to them. "What are you guys doing here? It's great to see you."  
  
"Jean gave her a hug and smiled warmly. "I hear that congratulations are in order."  
  
"How so?" Adrienne was at a loss.  
  
"I hear that you and Goliath are dating." Jean handed her a small gift. "This is for both of you.  
  
Goliath joined Adrienne at her side. "Ms. Grey, it is a priviledge to see you again."  
  
"Pleasure's all mine." She handed them a white gift box adorned with blue ribbon. "Go ahead and open it, you two."  
  
"Now?" Adrienne asked uncertainly?  
  
"NOW!" Jean playfully demanded. "Go on."  
  
"All right." Adrienne cast a look at Goliath. She carefully removed the sparkling metallic blue ribbon that surrounded the box.  
  
"Save the ribbon." Jean told her. "You'll need it."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Trust me, Dree. You'll need the ribbon." Jean's warm and excitement were infectious.  
  
Adrienne nodded and tucked the ribbon away in one of the compartments of her purse. She slowly opened the box and handed the lid to Goliath. She gasped at the wonderful gift.  
  
Inside the box wrapped in sky blue tissue paper was a small white photo album. She handed the rest of the box to Goliath and slowly opened it. She realized that the photos were from the recent barbeque they had recently attended at the Xavier Institute. Jean and her 35 millimeter camera had been busy that evening. One photo was of Goliath with wings unfurled to their full expansese. His eyes were blazing and aglow . He was perfectly posed in a fierce protective stance. The second photo was of Goliath, in the flesh, in his classic "thinking" pose.  
  
"Jean, how did you get him to pose for these?"  
  
"I told him that these were for you because you had no photos of him in the flesh."   
  
"Did you get any of him nude?" Adrienne winked at her teammate.  
  
"I tried. Really, I did, but that loincloth had a mind of it's own." Jean laughed. "He couldn't get it off."  
  
"Did you try and get it off for Jean?" She asked her betrothed with a raised brow.  
  
"No!" He denied vehemently. "She never asked me to pose nude nor would I have-"  
  
"Goliath, chill." Adrienne lovingly reassured him. "We were only teasing."  
  
The third photograph brought tears to Adrienne's eyes AGAIN. (author's note: SHE'S PREGNANT! SHE CAN GET AS EMOTIONAL AS SHE WANTS) It was a photograph of her and Goliath. She stood in front of him and slightly turned to look into those dark, loving eyes. He returned her gaze and his wings were cloaked around him. Framing the photo was the trellis entwined with lavender and white roses.  
  
Other photos included him in flight or playing football. There was a candid shot of when his talons accidentally punctured the imitation pigskin. Jean also had possessed camera in hand for that fateful moment that brought them together in the first place. Goliath lay sprawled atop Adrienne with her in the grass. His wings expanded. Then, when she flipped the page, Jean's camera had caught the look of mortification on both their faces. The final shot in the album had Goliath planting that first, chaste kiss somewhere between her brushed lips and blushing cheek.  
  
"I didn't know that you caught that on film." Adrienne was truly stunned. "You caught a very special moment in time for us on film."  
  
"I enjoy photography." Jean smiled. She remembered her precious times with Scott and empathized.  
  
"We are deeply appreciative of your kindness, Ms. Grey." Goliath replied in that smoky baritone.  
  
"I glad that I could do this for both of you." She replied in kind. "And please call me Jean."  
  
"As you wish." He gave a slight bow as though she were a lady of nobilty.  
  
"Look underneath the wrapping in the box." Jean eagerly entreated Adrienne.  
  
"No problem." Adrienne looked again and found an 8'x 10" photo of her and Goliath standing next to each other. She remembered that perfect moment in time. "Nobody Wants To Be Lonely" by Ricky Martin had been playing on the stereo shortly before that destined football game. Jean caught them unawares and snapped the photo. In the photo, Goliath had held her hand to his chest and looked down at Adrienne. The trellis of roses surrounded them like a frame. It seemed almost staged because of it's perfection. What drew their eyes to the photo was also the frame. It was surrounded by an unusal mosaic of black and green stone and a lighter gray stone.  
  
"You ought to recognize the black and green stone." Jean prompted Adrienne.  
  
"Yeah, I do. It Kiariate."  
  
"Hank had some additional samples in the lab just sitting there. I had recently talked with David Xanatos and we found out that both of you turn to stone. He was gracious enough to donate some extra shards from what he called Goliath's "stone skin.' with a little telekinetic assistance from Nathan, we made this small gift to take with you to Scotland."  
  
"Truly, it is exsquisite." Goliath carefully ran his talons gently over the frame. "Thank you Jean."  
  
"It's unlike anything I've ever seen." Adrienne whispered.  
  
"Our love is stronger and more enduring than the mountain stone." He whispered as he pressed a gentle kiss into that halo of bouncy charcoal curls.  
  
"You've made Adrienne very happy. It's the least we could do to say thank you for making our girl smile." Jean gave Goliath and a hug. He looked rather taken aback by the ravishing redhead's affectionate gesture. He awkwardly returned her friendly display. "We wish the best for you both."  
  
"Adrienne," The Professor called to her from afew yards away. His hover chair silently moved him beside her. "I have a travel package for your friends."  
  
"That's very nice of you." She looked quizzically at Goliath. [Why are we being showered with gifts?]  
  
The Professor handed them another giftbox surrounded in the same metallic blue ribbon. "I think everything you may need and require is included. I hope that you'll be able to use it."  
  
Now, it was Goliath's turn to look exceedingly confused. "Thank you, Sir."  
  
Adrienne planted a quick peck on Charle's cheek.  
  
"Open it now please." He quietly bid the couple.  
  
All right." Adrienne removed the lid. Inside, she and Goliath found several gold bracelets. Each appeared as an I.D. bracelet in 14 karat gold and each engraved with a Gargoyle's name. She also noticed a folder bulging with paperwork.  
  
"Sir these are lovely gift." [But why are you giving the Gargoyles jewelry?]  
  
[That is for me to know, young lady, and you to find out.] quipped Charle's telepathic reply.  
  
"Figures."  
  
"Goliath, walk with me." The Professor demanded. "If you'll excuse us, Adrienne..."  
  
"Sure." She didn't appreciate being summarily dismissed. Yet, she had an odd feeling that the Professor and Goliath were going to have a heart-to-heart Mutant-to-Gargoyle talk. Manly man stuff.  
  
The Professor moved away from the others and Goliath followed. Adrienne went on to show the others the bracelets and distribute them accordingly.  
  
"Goliath and Professor Xavier moved slowly into the darkness a few dozen yards away from the others. Professor X stopped and turned to face Goliath. "I know that you and Adriennehave been seeing one another for some time now. She's overjoyed to have you in her life.'  
  
"As I am with her Sir." Came Goliath's honest reply. Why was he as nervous a a hatchling on readying for his first flight?  
  
"She is an X-Man and we look after our own." The Professor said quietly. "She is like a daughter to me, as are all my students like my children."  
  
Sir," Goliath was at a loss for words. "Adrienne and I are...mates. I wish to make it moreso than that. She is human and I wish to marry her so that she is also my wife, and I her husband."  
  
"I see."  
  
"I am...asking ....for your blessing of this union." Goliath stammered.  
  
"I see." The Professor replied without expression.  
  
"I love Adrienne with my entire being, Professor." Goliath earnestly continued. "I will love her always. I want to be with her as long as she will have me. I know that she secretly longs for a wedding and a husband. I long to give that to her."  
  
"Those are your intentions regarding Adrienne?" The Professor asked.  
  
"Yes, Sir." Goliath went on. "She is All to me. I shall protect with my life."  
  
"You say you and she are mates?" Charles scrutinized the large lavender leviathan looming over him.  
  
"She is my lifemate."  
  
"Are you up to the task of providing for her?" The Professor asked pointedly. "Have you considered the gravity of involving yourself with a Mutant?"  
  
"Yes, Sir. She and I are much the same." Goliath responded strongly. "We both believe in a better world for all the Dragon's creations to dwell in harmony. The castle is the home of my clan. Manhattan is my city. We are both hunted by those whose hearts are tainted with prejudice. We both suffer misfortune at the hands of those who seek our demise. She and I embrace the values of respect and tolerance. We both believe in the protection of our mutual clans or teams. I understand that we may never know peace."  
  
"It's well you understand that, my good Gargoyle." Charles responded. "How will you provide her with the necessities of food, clothing and shelter for her?"  
  
Goliath was speechless. Never before had his abilities to provide for his clan been brought into question. "Professor, I am clan leader and am responsible for the well-being of all my rookery brothers and sisters. My mate will never want for anything, I assure you. Xanatos has extended his hand to us in frienship. He knows that the Castle and the clan are forever connected. One can be without the other. It is our shelter and our home. Clothing and food are not of concern. Xanatos and I have recently made an arrangement. I am compensated with a sizable monthly stipend to cover any of our wants and needs."  
  
"Can you handle money?"  
  
"I have little use for it." Goliath replied. "It is a human creation, but, we live in a human world. Lexington undestands such things better than I. He has said to me that my money has been...how did he put it? 'Invested in extensive blue-chip stock portfolios' and various other accounts."  
  
"Who is Lexington?" Professor X asked. "He sounds like a financial wizard."  
  
"He is another gargoyle of my clan." Goliath looked at the Professor. "Has Adrienne told you anything about us?"  
  
"Very little, especially since Logan's recent behavior." The Professor admitted. "I remember the name now. Logan attacked Lexington."  
  
"Indeed. What will you do about the one called Wolverine?"  
  
"We will talk of it another time." The professor replied. "Now, back to the matter at hand. Adrienne is human. She enjoys going out on the town, dancing, and being with her friends. As a Gargoyle, she can't share that with you."  
  
The Professor made a very grave point that stabbed at Goliath's heart. "I will never preclude Adrienne from seeking the company of her friends and loved ones."  
  
"I know. You are a Gargoyle of astounding character. You being a Gargoyle can also present a problem. David Xanatos and I have chosen to remedy that small obstacle." The Professor dropped the icy persona. "I have something for you and your clan. David Xanatos called me earlier this evening and we had a delightful conversation. Think of this as a joint venture for the betterment of Adrienne, you and your clan."  
  
He motioned to the folder Goliath held in his hand. "Look inside."  
  
Goliath opened the folder. He looked inside and found sever items he never expected to see.  
  
"The human world requires a paper trail to prove everything." The Professor explained. "So, between David and myself, you now have one a mile long. Im there you will find one birth certificate for Goliath Maza Wvyern. Born November 1, 1971 in Edinborogh, Scotland. You're entire medical history has been forwarded to two trusted collegues of mine should you or your clan require medical attention. I believe you've already met Dr. Hank McCoy."  
  
"I did under very unfortunate circumstances twice when I've nearly lost someone." Goliath growled.  
  
"I didn't mean to bring back unpleasant memories." Charles sincerely wished he had worded it more carefully. "I mean no disrespect."  
  
"None taken, Sir."  
  
"Very good, then." The Professor never missed a beat. "Your other Doctor is Dr. Cecilia Reyez. She is also versed in Mutant phsyiology. She's familiar with Sevarius' work because we captured his research files from that night. She is also amply qualified to provide you and your clan with the best medical care."  
  
"Thank you, I don't know what to say."  
  
"I'm not done." The Professor chuckled. "An X-Men never does anything halfway. Included with that are education transcripts, a bachelor's degree in Philosophy, a Masters' Degree in Library Science, and a PHD in Medival English Literature. So, you are now Dr. Goliath Wvyern, currently employed as a Professor in the English Department at the Xavier Institute. You'll be teaching night classes twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays."  
  
"I have a job?" Goliath's jaw dropped.  
  
"Of course, young man!" The professor rebuked him. "I can't let Adrienne marry a laggard. You have to earn a paycheck. And Xanatos thinks you're quite the Medieval scholar. I need a Professor to teach some of my students at the secondary and graduate levels. It's yours for the taking if you want it."  
  
"How will I arrive there?"  
  
"That is the next thing on our list. Your patrols take approximately three hours after sundown. Classes will be scheduled from 8 until ll in the evening." Charles clasped his hands together. "David has assured me that there are others that can cover you while you drive there."  
  
"Drive?" Goliath shook his head. "I can not drive."  
  
"Then you need to learn and you'll need to buy a car." Charles replied. "Look underneath the degrees."  
  
There was a driver's license with a picture of a handsome human staring back at me. The face seemed stranged to Goliath at first. Somehow, it seemed familiar.  
  
"David told me you spent some time as a human, so, we managed to find an old photograph in his security archives. Good likeness don't you think?"  
  
"I am not Human. I am a Gargoyle. It's impossible for me to be among humans without them running fright." Goliath shrugged in a helpless gesture. "It's impossible."  
  
"Not anymore." The Professor explained. "Those bracelets that you saw earlier are image inducers. They have certain micro encryption chips within each of them. They allow each member of your clan to appear human to the naked eye and to all electronic devices."  
  
"Cameras?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Video recorders."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Magick?"  
  
"That, I don't know. That's not my department." Charles chuckled. "You might ask my friend Armand when you meet him."  
  
"This is all incredible." Goliath thumbed through the extensive paperwork.  
  
"There is also proof of American citizenship, passport, social security card, credit cards, checkbook, an organized stock portfolio in your name. We can tailor it later to match the one done by your friend Lexington. There are various other documents. Look at the last one."  
  
Goliath said nothing as he pulled out the last document. He studied it. "What is this, Professor Xavier?"  
  
"That, my good Gargoyle, is a marriage license." The Professor nodded at him. "When you and Adrienne decide to marry, you don't have to apply for one. You need simply sign this one and it will be filed with the proper authorities. Not only will you be married in the eyes of God, you will be bound for the remainder of your lives in the eyes of New York State."  
  
"This is wonderful." The Gargoyle felt as though he had found his private treasure trove. "There are no words to express my gratitude."  
  
"Then do so in deed by taking care of Adrienne. Love and cherish her always as she does you."  
  
"I promise that I will do so gladly."  
  
"If I were her father, I'd give you my blessing." The Professor replied warmly. "But, you have no need of it from me."  
  
"If you were her father, then I would assure you that I would do everything in my power to prove myself worthy of your daughter."  
  
"You've done that when you saved her life twice. Once in Sevarius' lab and again when she almost died when you met her. I consider it a debt that can never be repaid. I can only give you a start in this life."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Let's return to the others. They'll be wanting to leave soon." The Professor maneuvered his hover chair towards the others. "Shall we?"  
  
  
  



	6. Frightful Lucidity

4/19/01  
  
Denigoddess2001@aol.com  
  
Story Arc: "X and The Single Gargoyle" Part V  
Segement: Archangel of Twilight  
Chapter 6: Frightful Lucidity  
  
Disclaimer's in the first chapter, folks!  
[Bracketed words indicate thought or telepathic transmission]  
  
He watched from a distance as Chuck walked beside the purple hobgoblin. He felt betrayal rise in his throat like bad-tasting bile. His acute hearing overhead every sickening act of generousity enacted by the Professor. He was a flamin' Garg lover! It made Logan's stomach churn just knowing that purple animal had touched Adrienne. He knew they'd been all over each other like two teenagers.  
  
[Ya think the Frail at least would keep it in the same species.]  
  
Logan's tears evaporated in the heat of his hatred for Goliath.  
  
Logan's attention turned to other things as he watched Adrienne walk around the airfield with one of those little green freaks. He'd sliced through that one like melted butter. That thought brought Logan savage satisfaction. He wanted to skewer every last one and skin them alive for getting their filthy talons into his Adrienne.  
  
Damn. Goliath had been a thorn in his side for too long of time. Logan's late wife, Jaye, ceased to be because of that freak's frail, Elisa. Now, Adrienne had been brainwashed by that garg son-of-a-bitch. The freak even had Dree believing that logan almost raped her in the hallway after the Danger Room exercise six weeks prior.  
  
"You and me are gonna dance, ya freakin' bastard."  
  
Adrienne and the green garg she called Lex were walking along the edge of the field. He remembered that shrimp. The flying squirrel's wings sliced nice and easy for Logan. Now, if it weren't for Adrienne, he'd finish what he'd started a month and a half ago.  
  
He didn't give a shit if they lived or died. As long as Adrienne came to her senses, that's all that mattered to him.  
  
Half of his wife resided inside that woman. If he couldn't have Jaye back in his arms, then Adrienne would do just fine.  
  
*******  
  
A flash of crimson blinded her. The pain of the batrayal twisted her stomach in cramped knots. Rage tore through and crippled her mind. The pain seared her nerves with each passing second. She fell into a crumpled heap at Lexington's feet. The sudden wave of vertigo caused her to fight for air and consciousness.   
  
"Adrienne? What's wrong?" Lex's concern cut through the murky haze of disorientation and chaotic onslaught of emotion.  
  
"Logan, he's nearby." She said between labored breaths. She clutched her heaving chest. "Emapthic attack. Get Goliath.....please."   
  
"Hang on, Adrienne! I'll get him!" Lex reassured her. "Goliath! Goliath! Adrienne's down!"  
  
Goliath and Professor X heard Lexington's urgent cries for help. They turned to see Adrienne on the ground to see Adrienne lying on the ground. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she was convulsing.  
  
"Call a doctor! Get one now!" Goliath bellowed as he scooped his beloved mate into his arms. "Lexington, how did this come about?"  
  
Lexington seemed on the edge of hysteria. "She said Logan is nearby and it was an empathic attack."  
  
"I'm going to kill him." Goliath said in a low growl with eyes aglow. "He shall pay dearly if harm befalls her this night."  
  
Professor Xavier was beside them within seconds.   
  
"Goliath, bring her to me. If she's suffered an empathic attack, then she'll enter cardiac arrest." He commanded the large Gargoyle.  
  
"Can you help her?"  
  
"I shall try."  
  
*******  
  
Adrienne felt quite groggy. She slowly opened her eyes. She found herself surrounded by glowing crimson orbs dancing around them. Globes of murky yellow and putrid green collided with them making ugly splatters in the air.  
  
[Empathic plane.] She realized. [Only one man generates that kind of savage emotion. Only one man can get inside my mind like this.]  
  
"Logan, where are you?" Adrienne called aloud. She abhorred being weakened. "I know you're here! Show yourself."  
  
"Yeah, Darlin.' I'm here." His voice startled her as she felt two strong arms cradle her. She looked up to see icy cobalt eyes warm with worry as they gazed into hers.  
  
The colors exploing around them slowed and softened in volume and hue. The harsh wind blowing around them became a gentle breeze. The frenzied chaos melted away into the familiar scene of the Danger Room.  
[You're on my turf now, Manicure boy.]   
  
"Logan, why are you doing this?" She whispered weakly. The agony of the empathic assault on her mind left her depleted, unprotected and weak.  
  
"Darlin', I love ya." He murmered as he pressed a kiss into her curly charcoal ringlets. "I didn't mean to hurt ya with that kiss a while back. I didn't mean to do this to ya now."  
  
"Love, my ass." She scoffed. "Don't even go there! This isn't love, this is psychic rape. You're violating my mind to try and dominate me, you cold ruthless asswipe!"  
  
The agony racked her body as another wave of rage from Logan washed over her. "You loved me once."  
  
"I never loved you. Jaye loved you. Jaye is dead. You have to let her go. You have to let me go."  
  
"I can't, Adrienne." He said raggedly. "God knows I've tried. But, I know that bond and what it feels like."  
  
"And you don't give a damn what your addiction does to me!" She spat.  
  
"No, you don't." He snarled. "You don't have a clue, Frail. Without you, I feel more alone than I ever have. It's hard being unconnected to that much affection and unconditional acceptance. I just wanted to curl up and die."  
  
"Your a mind junkie. Great."  
  
"We share a bond whether you like it or not, Dree." He rasped. "Same mind, same body and same soul."  
  
"We don't share a thing!" She retorted.  
  
"What do you call this?" Logan motioned to the scene of the Danger Room around them. "This ain't really the Danger Room, Darlin.' We on a prime piece of psionic real estate called the Empathic Plane. You taught me how to navigate around this place. You taught me how to channel all that beserker rage to open a portal here and deal with it all. We're here for sure. This sure as Hell ain't La-la land."  
  
"Jaye taught you those things."  
  
"Then what do you call this, Sunshine?" He asked with a voice of spun silk.  
  
"This is a residual effect from the time you deided to play God in Sevarius' lab." She glared at him. "Logan, let me go. Let me live my life. Let me help you. You need help-"  
  
"I don't need shit or that psycho-babble you wanna shove down my throat." He drew her roughly upright. "If I can reach the real you, you'll realize that you love me. It's in ya. I can feel it."  
  
"I don't love you, Logan."  
  
"If you didn't, this link wouldn't exist. The bond doesn't take if there isn't something to hold it together. If you didn't love me, you wouldn't feel it."  
  
"Of course I care about you." She felt like screaming at him to let her go. "I always have. I just don't have any romantic inclinations about you. You caught me a few minutes after my inception at my weakest point. There was no way the link could not take hold. I needed your lifeforce to survive and you provided the means for my survival. It was pure instinct that my mind latched onto yours. It was never love!"  
  
"I don't think so." He countered. "If you didn't feel something for me akin to love this link wouldn't exist. Every night when you're with your walking waterspout, I feel it! I feel your feelings like they're mind. I hear his words echo in your mind. I feel his touch on your skin. I hear you cry out his name in your mind. You loved me like that once."  
  
"Correction. Jaye Morgan loved you like that once." She harshly rebuked him. "She died a long time ago."  
  
"Half of you is Jaye Morgan." Logan pointed out to her. "We loved each other in a way that went beyond the concept. It was each of us inside the other. Neither of us were alone. When you left me...I fell apart.  
  
[Goliath, where are you?]  
  
"Logan, this is insane." Adrienne felt strength slowly eroding away the frailty holding her body and mind captive. "I carry Jaye's DNA. That's all. I don't have her mind or her soul. I am my own person."  
  
[Just keep him talking. Stall.]  
  
"Yeah, I don't think so, Sunshine." Logan brought his lips to hers in a series of light kisses. As the cloud of dizziness slowly dispersed, she recognized that she wasn't strong enought to resist further assault on her empathic senses.  
  
She laid passively in his arms. Something in the dark and distant recesses of her mind knew that he spoke the truth about the love he shared with his late wife. She understood that Logan was a man motivated and energized by raw emotion. At one time, that held her fascination with his primative charisma and wild sexuality. Now, it simply frightened her. His agressive, savage nature left Adrienne repulsed.  
  
"I don't love you and I don't want you; not now and not ever. Get over yourself and get out of my life." Her outrage gave her new psionic strength. Unknown stamina and power flowed into her. It felt like it came from a source other than Human. The mist of quandry faded swiftly into oblivion as the resounding crystalline clarity cleared her mind. Order replaced chaos.  
  
[Goliath, I knew I could count on you!]  
  
"You're on my turf, Logan." She said in a low, monotone growl. "Unless you want your mind fried like scramble eggs, I suggest that you get out of my mind."  
  
"You're in no condition to be makin' threats, Frail." He hurtfully grabbed her upper arms."Why are you screwin' that purple hobgoblin, givin' it to him instead of lovin' me. Ain't a man good enough for ya?"  
  
"It actually rather simple. Let me put it in terms simple enough for you to understand." Her sarcasm caused his eyes to narrow. She snarled and he watched her eyes flash in an unholy violet luminescence.  
"Goliath treats me with respect. He doesn't try to dominate me. He doesn't try to own me. He treasure me. And honey, he's better in bed than any human I've heard about."  
  
"Frail, you had better just shut yer mouth." He warned her with an ominous note in his voice.  
  
"What are you going to do?" She taunted Logan. "Cry?"  
  
She let forth a Darkforce bolt from her hands that sent Logan reeling into the air. He soared helplessly until he landed on the ground several feet away. "Now, I'm pissed."  
  
Logan stood up and straightened his clothing. "So this is what it comes down to?"  
  
"You got that right."   
  
"If you're so connected to your precious Goliath, where's he now?"  
  
"Logan...just go."  
  
"You ever wonder why you're drawn to a garg? He ain't even the same fuckin' species." Logan sneered. "You ever figure out why he wants you and who the other half of you is?"  
  
"I know who I am." Adrienne watch Logan as he stepped forward. "I'm a Kiari/ Mutant hybrid with your dead wife's DNA as the data base for my particular genetic configuration."  
  
"Not even close, Darlin.'" Logan chuckled as he walked toward her.  
  
Adrienne fired another bolt of the cold, lifeless energy of Darkforce at him. The black bolt of void were missiles of intense sentient energy link to Adrienne's will and desires. Their shapes altered from sleek torpedoes into an expansive net intent upon snaring the Mutant called Wolverine.  
  
Somehow, he lunged out of the way just as the net fastened itself securely to the ground. He watched the quivering black tendrils of the net vainly reach for him.   
  
"Not bad, Frail. You're gettin' better with your fightin.' You're figurin' out that your abilities are controlled by personal choice and not raw ability."  
  
He dodged the tendrils with ease and sprung forward to land only a few feet away. He tackled the young woman and knocked her to the ground. He lay atop her. His heavy weight heald her steadfast. "When Jaye and i battled like this in the Danger Room, she like it. Combat was just a form of foreplay for us. You wonder why I always win? Because you want me to. You like being tamed, you always have."  
  
"You're sick." She snarled as she struggled against his strength.  
  
"No, I'm not. "In the real world I kick your ass in combat. In here, you can't win because you don't have the will to fight me."  
  
A solid knee came upwards to firmly impact with Logan's exposed crotch. He howled like a wounded animal. With the might she needed, she called mentally upon her bond for Goliath. The energy she need to escape Logan came alive inside her. She felt Goliath's love and power wash over her. She felt his awesome presence flow through her. With eyes ablaze with violet flame, she effortlessly dislodged Logan from her person.  
  
She watched as he landed roughly on the hard surface. Beaten and bloodied, covered in lacerations and abrasions, he rose to his knees. "You wonder why goliath even gives you the time of day? Your four-legged lizard lover ever tell you that the other half of your DNA configuration is Elisa Maza?"  
  
"In your dreams, Logan." She screamed but it barely came out barely above a whisper.  
  
There was utter stillness. The narcosis attacked her.   
  
"Yeah, Frail, that's the cold harsh reality." He gave a rueful laugh. "The only reason you're with him is because some other woman's psyche is vying for equal time with Jaye's. The only reason he even looks at you is because of the same reason I am; I want my wife back. He thinks he loves you because you are all that's left of Elisa Maza."  
  
"You lie."  
  
"Then where is he?"  
  
*******  
  
Goliath slowly closed his eyes. He reached within himself to find that special harmony of warmth. He looked for that particular connection and rapport that he shared with his mate. He chose to enter it only of her invitation. More than once, she had told him that she preferred her mind to be her own. He wished not to invade and violate her most private thoughts.  
  
He found the link and he traveled along it's course. In his mind's eye, it apeared as a celadon cable radiant and luminescent against a dark mantle akin to the expanse of the heavens.  
  
he felt the gentle and loving covenant come alive inside him. He followed the arc between them until orbs of colored brilliance danced around him. Momentarily blinded, he shielded his eyes against the glare of their mesmerizing pulsations.  
  
"Adrienne, where are you?"  
  
He saw her not far away firing at a target he knew too well. Goliath's protective urges surged at the very thought that Logan was hurting her. He watched the figure advanced toward his betrothed. Goliath longed for an updraft to catch his wings. He reached out to the distant visage of his beloved and leapt from the rocky surface toward her.  
  
The underdraft he so critically required surged beneath him. Goliath extended his large wings and soared above his mate. Logan was a formidable warrior. Goliath knew a silent attack was best. His keen ears eavesdropped on their heated exchange below him.  
  
Logan landed roughly on the surface. Beaten and bloodied, covered in cuts and scrapes, he rose to his knees. "You wonder why goliath even gives you the time of day? Your four-legged lizard lover ever tell you that the other half of your DNA configuration is Elisa Maza?"  
  
"You lie."  
  
"Then where is he?"  
  
Goliath let forth a deafening roar as he descended feet -first upon the unsuspecting Wolverine. Goliath used his great strength and pummelled him mercilessly into the rough surface of the ground. Goliath placed a knee strongly between Logan's shoulder blades. He kept a large taloned hand on his neck.  
  
"I want to shatter your skull where you lie." Goliath growled low and deeply into Logan's ear. "You've violated my wife and you will pay for that."  
  
"Yeah, but at least I told her the truth." Logan taunted the Gargoyle.  
  
"YOUR TRUTH!" Goliath slammed his jaw into the concrete.  
  
"Goliath, please don't hurt him." Adrienne rushed to his side. The Gigantic Gargoyle turned to see the anguish that marred his Sweetling's features. "It has to stop here and now."  
  
The words hung in the air between them. Goliath paused then hauled Logan upright by the collar of his jacket. "Begone from this place and tread not here again. Otherwise you and I shall meet and Adrienne won't be able to save your sorry life."  
  
The lavender leviathan's onyx eyes seethed with barely contained longings for vengeance. They burned ominously as Goliath threw Logan's battered body through the portal looming above them. Logan howled wildly as he sailed through the eyes of the maelstorom and vanished. Goliath knew that only he and his Beloved remained inside her mind. 


	7. The Quickening

4/19/2001  
Denigoddess2001@aol.com  
  
Disclaimer's mentioned in the first chapter.  
  
Story Arc: "X & The Single Gargoyle Part V  
Segment: Archangel Of Twilight  
Chapter 7: The Quickening  
  
  
  
Goliath rushed to her side and gathered her to him. "My love, we must return to the world immediately. Are you well?"  
  
"I'm all right." He heard the neutrality in her reply. "Put me down."  
  
He set her on her feet. He shrugged in helplessness. "Adrienne, what is wrong?"  
  
She folded her arms and coldly stared at him. "Who am I?"  
  
"You are Adrienne Westfall."  
  
"Who am I to you?" She demanded pointedly.  
  
"You are my mate, my beloved, you are my Adrienne." He raggedly replied. "And I cherish you."  
  
"What happened to Elisa?"  
  
"She died." He closed his eyes to the pain of what happened that fateful night in upstate New York. Adrienne watched with detached and curious objectivity as Goliath's eyes suspiciously shimmered.  
  
"Did she?"  
  
"Aye, she did." Goliath's eyes flowed freely with a river of tears. "Elisa left me that night to attend a seminar at your Xavier Institute. She fell victim to a scheme hatched by Sevarius and Nathaniel Essex. Yet, one mysterious Mutant named Mystique and Logan counter-schemed to resurrect Jaye Morgan by exploiting my wife's unique genetic signature."  
  
"Then, what happened?" She demanded. Adrienne's brow was creased in contempt and rage.  
  
Goliath fell silent. He said nothing as his head hung low. Adrienne's rage flared and pushed him backwards. The large Gargoyle stumbled backwards and fell upon the craggy surface.   
  
She screamed at him. "TELL ME, DAMN IT!"  
  
"Elisa was drained to the point of death. She was dying. Jaye Morgan lay next to her close to death because her cellular structure was unstable. Both women would have died had it not been for Owen Burnett bringing them together as one entity."  
  
"And that's me, right?" She sarcastically surmised.  
  
"Aye."  
  
"Now, tell me this: why are you with me?"  
  
"You reawoke something in me I thought forever dead."  
  
"Like the memories of your dead wife?" She snarled.  
  
"No!" He roared. "What you reawoke was my ability to love again."  
  
"And I just happened to be the Frankenstein abomination that combine two dead women...one of them being Elisa Maza." She sneered. "That's why Brooklyn blamed me for Maza's death. That's why Owen scrutinized me every time I visited you. That's why Xanatos was always so generous with his kindness. It was a conspiracy to cover your guilt and to camouflage the elaborate lies you all constructed to keep me in the dark!"  
  
"NO!" Goliath cried out in anguish. "My Raven, it was never meant like that. Xanatos and Xavier felt that you had suffered extreme trauma. They wanted you to decide for yourself who you were and where you belonged. But rather than one personality dominating over the other, Jaye and Elisa formed a spiritual, psychic and physical gestalt. You are the consequence of that amalgamation. Wholly distinct and independent in body and mind from either woman."  
  
"Then why was I never told?"  
  
"You were never told for the reasons I just named." Goliath rose to his feet. He folded his wings around him in a protective shroud. His tears mingled freely with the dirt on his face to form two muddy streaks of sorrow on his chiseled cheeks. "I never again foreseen caring for another female. When we met, it was not my intention. I had only seen you for a few seconds shortly after your inception. Xanatos had the clan leave almost immediately. It wasn't well until you and I started seeing each other that he revealed to me that you were the woman brought to life by Owen Burnett that ill-fated night in Sevarius' laboratory."  
  
"Are you saying that when we first met after that first battle with the F.O.H, you didn't know who I was?"  
  
"Not at the time." Goliath replied vehemently.  
  
"What about the time when you took me to the garden on top of Xanatos' buildings?" She probed.  
  
"Nay, your origins were still unknown to me." Goliath reassured his mate.  
  
"When did you know?" She asked the final question.  
  
"Xanatos revealed all to me immediately following our first confrontation with Wolverine."  
  
"You made love to me later that night knowing full well that part of me is Elisa Maza."  
  
"I mated with you because I wanted to physically demonstrate my love for you." He rebelled against the pressing line of questioning. "I gave myself to you body and soul because you, Adrienne Westfall, reached out to me and gave me your heart without condition."   
  
Goliath held out his arms in a gesture of helplessness. "What must I do to regain your trust and faith in me, Adrienne? Look inside my soul. Your gift allows you to discern truth from duplicity. Please, My Love, I beseech you to gaze upon my heart before you judge me."  
  
She knew that one glance at his soul would exonerate him and brand her as recreant and faithless.  
  
He dared to loved her. Did she confront his pleas or did Logan win?  
  
Adrienne laid her head against his massive chest. She closed her eyes and let herself meld truly with Goliath. His heartbeat became hers. Her thoughts merged with his. Their breathing became his/ her breathing. S/he felt wings and talons wrap around her/him in unspoken trust.  
  
His words spoke only truth. His heart contained only honor and integrity. Duplicity and subterfuge knew know place in Goliath's heart. There, for the first time, she knew of his youthful affection for Demona and the unwavering and ardent love for his late wife, Elisa Maza. However, she sensed a movement alive inside him. She knew from Goliath's perspective than an unbounded wellspring dwelled along with the other affections. His love for Adrienne was an integral love that consisted of cherished inspiration, synergetic hunger and need, and a zealous affection for her. The psionic bond allowed s/he to know the other's heart, soul, and mind with a mere thought. It was the most joyous beauty his heart had ever known. Adrienne was the other half of his soul. She made him whole again.  
  
[Elisa and I never knew that encompassing sense of joining; of complete emotional and spiritual intimacy. It is unlike anything I have ever known. I never her loved her any less, Adrienne. But, she and I never could have loved one another so wholly like this. You and I truly are one, for as long as time shall last. I treasure that priceless bond between us.]  
  
Adrienne finally understood. He never meant to lie. He never did lie. He loved her because of the kinship of hearts, souls, and minds. He didn't love her because part of her had once been someone else. Their particular love was a mindboggling concept that defied concept and words.  
  
"There is no way I can speak that expresses what I feel for you." Goliath whispered. "Please know that I never meant to deceive you, Adrienne. All I can say is that I love you."  
  
"I'm not going anywhere." She looked into those dark eyes glistening with freshly-fallen tears. "I can't. Living without you will kill me. Not having your love, Goliath, is a destiny I hope I never know."  
  
"Forgive me." She humbly asked her mate. "Forgive me for doubting you. Please."  
  
"Kiss me, Sweetling." His deep baritone almost begged for her to wipe away the chasm between them.  
  
She gently cupped his strong jaw and slowly drew her to him. She tentatively brought her lips to his. She brushed her lips against his once, then twice. He growled she teasingly ran her tongue along his bottom lip. He growled appreciatively when she nipped him. When he groaned in rapture, Adrienne captured the moment and deepened the kiss. He tasted of salty tears and cinnamon. Her kiss promised to him that she was there to cherish and want him always. It was a silent atonement for her suspicions and faithlessness.  
  
She pressed the entire length of her body against him. She wanted to be so close to him that they truly were one. She felt his wings wrap around her to shield her from their pain.  
  
The colors swirling about them disappeared into oblivion. The rocky surface beneath them became concrete. The vortex turned into runway lights along the runway. Their quiet sobs hushed when they heard the roar of jet engines.  
  
"Goliath, is Adrienne well?" Professor Xavier's voice cut through their private sharing of hearts and minds.  
  
"Yes, Professor. She is shaken but all will be right by morning." Goliath reassured the worried man.  
  
"Logan, Professor." She exclaimed. "He used his link with me to get inside my mind."  
  
"I know and I'm sorry, Adrienne." The Professor took her hand in his. "Jean is helping him repair the imbalance that remains from his abrupt disconnection from his link with Jaye. We think that the complete isolation caused a chemical disruption inside his mind. She is helping to restore harmony within him."  
  
"What will happen to him?" Adrienne queried warily.   
  
The Professor gave her a sad smile. "Jean and I will work diligently to undo the damage he has suffered and caused."  
  
"Can I still come home from Scotland?" She asked quietly. "Is the Xavier Institute still my home?"  
  
"As long as it stands, it shall always be your home where you are wanted and loved." The Professor squeezed her hand. "Now an X-Man, always an X-Men."  
  
She leaned over and gave the Professor a peck on the cheek. "Now, I know why I love you so much. I can't think of a better mentor than you, Sir."  
  
She thought saw Charles Xavier blush but thought better of it. [Not his style.]  
  
"Goliath, Adrienne, I don't mean to interrupt, but we need to leave before sunrise." David Xanatos broke their moment.  
  
"You're right, Mr. Xanatos." Adrienne replied. "Professor, I will miss you while I'm gone. Save a spot for me for when I return. I'm still an X-Man."  
  
"We'll look forward to your return." The Professor wiped his eyes. "Blasted dust. It's stirred up by those jets. Now, get going, you two."  
  
Goliath nodded and offered his arm to his mate. They walked aboard the jet and found it to be especially accommodating to the unique passengers. It had several large seats perfect for Gargoyles. Adrienne noticed there were several grips above the seats. She presumed those were for the Gargoyles to hold once they became stone. In the front, she saw a wet bar. On top, there was a bucket full of ice. Inside, she saw several chilled bottles of Mike's Hard Lemonade (a lemon-flavored malt liquor). [Ah, Xanatos knows my tastes. Yummy!]  
  
"I wish you didn't have to turn to stone at sunrise." She lamented as she and Goliath snuggled into one of the exceedingly spacious seats. She laid her head on his shoulder as she sat upon his lap.  
  
"Perhaps, I can with your help." He suggested. "But you are too drained and need to rest. Logan's attack may have left you with injuries not yet known."  
  
"I just don't want to be away from you." Adrienne sighed.  
  
"Then sleep with me at sunrise." He whispered. Goliath took her hand in his and brushed his lips against the sensitive skin of her palm. "You entered stone slumber with me once. Join with me again, let us be with one another and dream good dreams."  
  
"I'd like that very much." She replied.  
  
They said little to one another the rest of the night. They spent the remainder of the time before sunrise simply holding one another and kissing.  
  
In the wee morning hours, Adrienne heard a song over the sound system of the jet that reminded her of her precious relationship and covenant with Goliath. It was a Robbie Williams song that seemed to truly capture the ambiance of that treasured bond and the pain and hope of that recently endured. It may have been from a man's point of view, but, Adrienne's heart knew every word as if they had sprung from her lips. She thought of Goliath as her Archangel of Twilight. He was her lover, mate, and confidante. He was friend and soulmate. He was her Guardian Angel and she loved him all the more for it. When the sun rose, two stone lovers remained entwined as the strains of music filled the cabin.  
  
"..I sit and wait.  
Does an angel contemplate my fate?  
And do they know  
the places where we go  
when we're grey and old?  
'Cos I have been told  
that salvation lets their wings unfold.  
So when I'm lying in my bed,  
thoughts running through my head   
and I feel that love is dead,   
I'm loving angels instead.  
  
And through it all,  
she offers me protection  
a lot of love and affection  
whether I'm right or wrong.  
And down the waterfall,  
wherever it may take me, I know that life won't break me.   
When I come to call, she won't forsake me.  
I'm loving angels instead.  
  
When I'm feeling weak,  
and my pain walks down a one way street,   
I look above  
and I know I'll always be blessed with love.  
And as the feeling grows,  
she breathes flesh to my bones.  
And when love is dead,  
I'm loving angels instead.  
  
  
-FINI  
  
  
Author's Note: If you have any questions regarding "X and the Single Gargoyle" or any of my other works. Please e-mail me at Denigoddess2001@aol.com  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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